Madagascar

2013 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

Moderate Advancement

In 2013, Madagascar made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The former de facto Government developed a hazardous work list for children, conducted forced child labor and child trafficking-related investigations, and prosecuted seven perpetrators of child sex trafficking. National and regional committees on child labor continued their work, and the Government funded a center to provide services to children withdrawn from child labor. However, children in Madagascar continue to engage in child labor in agriculture and in the worst forms of child labor in mining. Moreover, implementation of policies was limited, labor inspections on child labor violations were lacking, and the number of social programs was inadequate to address the scope of the problem.

*Evidence of this activity is limited and/or the extent of the problem is unknown.
†Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a) - (c) of ILO C. 182.

Girls are trafficked from Madagascar to the Middle East for forced domestic service and commercial sexual exploitation.(35, 36) Informal employment agencies recruit children into domestic service who are subsequently subjected to forced labor within Madagascar.(32) Trafficking for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation occurs in coastal cities, such as Toamasina , Nosy Be, Toliary, Antsiranana, and Mahajunga, as well as in the capital, Antananarivo.(36) Most child sex trafficking occurs with the involvement of family members, but friends, transport operators, tour guides, and hotel workers also facilitate the trafficking of children.(32, 36, 37) During the reporting period, limited evidence suggests child sex tourism increased, particularly in the coastal cities and in the capital.(27, 32) Parents may force their children into various forms of commercial sexual exploitation to earn money to support their families, in some cases, directly negotiating prices with clients.(32, 36, 37) Some children are fraudulently recruited for work in the capital as waitresses, maids, and masseuses before being coerced into commercial sexual exploitation. In some cases, the traditional practice of tsenan'ampela (girl markets), in which girls are sent to markets to attract a husband and arrange marriages, has led girls into commercial sexual exploitation.(19)

Children in the mining sector suffer from respiratory problems and diseases such as diarrhea and malaria.(19) Children are also at risk of injury from collapsing mines.(19) A growing number of children are involved in gold mining in the regions of Ilakaka, Anlamanga, Vakinankaratra, and Anosy.(11, 12, 17, 19, 20) Children dig mining holes, up to 15 meters deep and carry plastic sacks filled with air in order to be able to breathe. Boys as young as 10 go down the holes to collect earth that is sifted at nearby rivers.(19)

Children are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, less likely to attend school, and vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor due to the 2009-2014 economic and political crisis, ignited by a military-backed coup.(1, 21, 26) During the reporting period, credible presidential and legislative elections were held, resulting in an elected president and National Assembly taking office in January 2014.

In addition, children in Madagascar face significant barriers to education, including a lack of school infrastructure (especially in rural areas), vocational and technical training opportunities, and issuance of birth certificates needed for children to officially enroll in school.(19, 36) While the right to free education is enshrined in the constitution, with decreased donor funding due to the political crisis, the Malagasy government was unable to fully subsidize students' school fees, food, and school supplies.(33, 38) Families unable to pay these additional costs kept their children at home or sent them to work.(19, 30)

III. Enforcement of Laws on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Government has established institutional mechanisms for the enforcement of laws and regulations on child labor, including its worst forms (Table 5).

Table 5. Agencies Responsible for Child Labor Law Enforcement

Organization/Agency

Role

Ministry of Civil Services and Labor's Division for the Prevention, Abolition, and Monitoring of Child Labor (PACTE)

Enforce child labor laws and coordinate, communicate, train, engage in research and development, administer, finance, and evaluate all activities in the context of the elimination of child labor.(1, 13, 47, 48)

Ministry of Justice

Enforce all laws pertaining to violence against children, including trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children.(1)

Law enforcement agencies in Madagascar took actions to combat child labor, including its worst forms.

Labor Law Enforcement

In 2013, the Ministry of Labor had approximately 90 inspectors in the field and 30 in training.(4, 13) Although labor inspectors are generalists, they receive training on child labor and can conduct child labor inspections. Ministry of Civil Services and Labor's Division for the Prevention, Abolition, and Monitoring of Child Labor (PACTE) staff includes four labor inspectors and one researcher.(4, 46) However, PACTE does not have program funding, following budget cuts to the Ministry of Civil Services and Labor, whose total annual funding allocation in 2013 was 0.42 percent of the national budget.(1) No child labor inspections took place during the reporting period.(1)

Criminal Law Enforcement

In 2013, child victims of various forms of abuse were referred to the Ministry of Population's 450 child protection networks, which provided protection and social services for children.(1) There were 68 trafficking-related investigations reported in 2013, a majority of these cases resulted in prosecutions, though the exact number was not available.(36) Reports indicate that a majority of these cases involved minors forced into domestic service. The National Police's Morals and Minors Brigade (PMPM) has a headquarters and 15 regional units across Madagascar.(36) Law enforcement officials estimated there were 68 trafficking and forced labor investigations in 2013.

During the reporting period, the court in Nosy Be reported seven child sex trafficking convictions prosecuted under Madagascar's anti-trafficking legislation.(1, 36) The penalties imposed in these convictions ranged from 12 months to five years of imprisonment.

IV. Coordination of Government Efforts on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Government has established mechanisms to coordinate its efforts to address child labor, including its worst forms (Table 6).

Table 6. Mechanisms to Coordinate Government Efforts on Child Labor

Coordinating Body

Role & Description

National Committee on the Fight Against Child Labor

Coordinate programs, advise on child labor legislation and regulations, and monitor and pursue the implementation of the National Action Plan to Fight Child Labor. Led by the Ministry of Civil Services and Labor, with representatives from the Ministries of Education, Health, and Justice.(1, 17, 21, 47)

Regional Child Labor Observatories

Coordinate, monitor, and evaluate all activities relating to the elimination of child labor at the regional level, identify activities to promote child labor elimination, and compile and analyze data gathered to report it to the PACTE.(17, 47)

Guide national child protection policy and programs, and coordinate child protection activities. Chaired by the Minister of Population and Social Affairs and made up of a steering committee and a technical commission of specialists.(1)

National Statistics Institute

Collect and process data to monitor implementation of the UN CRC.(15, 49)

The effectiveness of the mechanisms to coordinate government efforts on child labor were hampered by budget constraints. The National Child Protection Committee, which was established in 2012, made no clear achievements during the reporting period.(1) The National Committee on the Fight Against Child Labor met throughout the year and committee members traveled to the Ihosy, Vakinankaratra, and Betsiboka regions to assess child labor.(1) Regional committees were active to various extents; for example, the regional child labor committee in the Sava region was appointed, received training, and developed its own action plan, primarily to address child labor in the vanilla sector.(1) Due to lack of funds, however, this committee faced severe limits on its ability to follow its action plan during the reporting period.(1)

Sets out a comprehensive map to improve the quality of, and access to, basic education and includes child labor concerns.(19, 45) In 2013, the Government of Madagascar launched the new Education for All Program and the Provisional Education Plan.(43)

Includes strategies to combat child labor, including through the promotion of social dialogue, principles, and fundamental rights of work and social protection.(51, 52)

United Nations Development Assistance Framework (2012-2014)

Includes strategies, such as training judiciary and police on child labor laws, to protect children from trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, hazardous labor, and child domestic work; and to promote school inclusion.(53, 54)

VI. Social Programs to Address the Worst Forms of Child Labor

In 2013, the Government of Madagascar participated in and funded programs that include the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor, including its worst forms (Table 8).

Table 8. Social Programs to Address Child Labor

Program

Description

Tackling Child Labor through Education (TACKLE) project

Jointly launched by the European Commission and the ILO to combat child labor through education in 12 African and Caribbean countries and the Pacific group of states (ACP). (3, 55) Aims to strengthen institutional capacity to formulate and implement child labor strategies, including boosting family incomes through the provision of inputs to increase agricultural productivity in Madagascar. In 2013, the project included direct action programs targeting children in Vakinankaratra, Analanjirofo, Fénérive Est, and Marovoay.(45, 56)

Manjary Soa Center‡

Government program that provides support and services to child laborers in Antananarivo, reintegrates children under 16 in the public education system, and provides tradecraft training to older children.(48, 57) In 2013, the Government provided $35,797 to the Center for medical expenses, school kits, meals, and salaries for the Center's two instructors, doctor, and supervisor. The Center also removed 30 children from exploitative child labor.(1, 7, 21, 58)

$1.3 million, Government of France-funded, 3-year project that aims to combat child domestic labor in specific regions.(7, 59) In 2013, the project removed or prevented an estimated 230 children from engaging in domestic work in Antsirabe and provided them with professional training and assistance in finding decent work.(1)

UNICEF Education Support

$30 million UNICEF-funded program to support the Government's interim plan on education.(46) The investment targets supporting data collection and development of an action plan in schools, building classrooms, distributing school kits and payments to teachers, training teachers (on how to reduce risk of child labor), and emergency response.

National Database

UNICEF-funded, national database managed by the Ministry of Population gathers data from nine regional, child protection networks.(36) In 2013, 2,837 cases of child exploitation were documented, including an estimated 182 cases that involved child trafficking.

Green Line

UNICEF-funded, Minor's Brigade-managed toll-free number received reports of child exploitation cases. The line received 741 reported calls; however, specific data on child- trafficking incidents was unavailable.(36)

Awareness Raising in Sakahara*‡

Program that raises awareness about the hazards faced by children working in mines using radio announcements and talks with the fokontany (local chief). (19)

Public Investment Program for Social Action (PIP)‡

Government program that supports school attendance and training for street children and aims to remove 40 children a year from the worst forms of child labor.(21, 57)

Inclusive education support*‡

Government programs to provide back-to-school grants, awareness raising activities, in-kind support to schools, and access to income-generating activities that target children traditionally excluded from schools.(53)

Ministry of Justice and UNICEF conducted trainings that included a specific module on human trafficking, as well as interviewing and listening techniques for police and gendarmes. In Antsirabe and Ambositrahe, the Government conducted awareness-raising workshops and trainings on child labor.(19)

$33 million and $2 million IFAD-funded loan and grant program that provides vulnerable groups, including uneducated young people and young women who are heads of households, with professional and vocational training to improve productivity and market agricultural products to increase household incomes. Estimated government contribution is $7.9 million.(60, 61)

*The impact of this program on child labor does not appear to have been studied.
‡Program is funded by the Government of Madagascar.

Pending democratic elections, much of the donor funding for social programs in Madagascar remained suspended during the reporting period.(1)

In 2013, the Government allocated 0.1 percent of the state budget to the Ministry of Population's Child and Family Protection Division, which is responsible for providing social services to children and families,.(1) Although Madagascar has programs that target child labor, the scope of these programs is insufficient to fully address the extent of the problem.

The Government does not have programs that address the traditional practice of tsenan'ampela, which in some cases has led girls into commercial sexual exploitation. Existing child labor databases are not fully funded.

Clarify and ensure that information on prosecutions is publicly available.

2013

Government Policies

Reinvigorate efforts to implement existing policies, including by requiring regular meetings of the National Child Protection Committee.

2010 - 2013

Social Programs

Assess the impact of existing social programs on addressing child labor.

2010 - 2013

Increase the scope of child labor and anti-trafficking programs to reach more children at risk of the worst forms of child labor.

2010 - 2013

Provide funding for subsidies for school fees, food, and school supplies. Establish and implement a program to address the lack of school infrastructure, vocational and technical training opportunities, and birth registration, which impede children's access to education.

2011 - 2013

Conduct research to determine the activities carried out by children working in manufacturing, bars, forced labor, and debt bondage to inform policies and programs.

2013

Disaggregate complaints made by child-protection hotlines by number of children exploited in child labor.

2013

Increase awareness on the possible use of traditional cultural practices that might lead to commercial sexual exploitation of children.